Application for Canon Update
[ link to the application and approval]
OOC:
Name: Deb
IC:
Character name: Castiel
Character journal: deansangel918
Fandom: Supernatural
Timeline: Updating from the end of Season 5 to near the end of Season 6 (specifically, to the end of episode 6.21, just after Castiel heals Lisa and leaves Dean). In the canon timeline that covers about two years.
Updates:
Plot Update:
First, a recap of where we left the major players at the end of Season 5:
Sam Winchester - As part of a last, desperate plan to stop the Apocalypse, Sam allowed Lucifer to take him as a vessel. He planned to somehow grab control back from Lucifer long enough to throw himself into a magical portal that led directly to Lucifer's cage in Hell. Miraculously, the plan worked, but Sam accidentally dragged the archangel Michael (also in a human vessel) with him. Lucifer and Michael are now locked in Lucifer's cage and their human vessels are trapped with them.
Dean Winchester - Once they knew Sam was going to have to sacrifice himself to stop Lucifer, Sam made Dean promise not to try to free Sam from Hell, and to retire from hunting. Dean keeps his promise and ends up living with a former girlfriend and her son. He gets a construction job and for the next year he mostly succeeds at living a normal, suburban life.
Crowley - (No, not that Crowley, although the name probably is a shout-out to Good Omens.) One of the most powerful demons in Hell, and formerly the boss of all crossroads demons. He allied himself with the Winchesters to stop the Apocalypse because he didn't want the world to end and spoil all his fun (and because he knew Lucifer would probably get rid of all the demons after he finished with the humans). Crowley helped out from time to time, but was not directly involved in the final battle.
Castiel - Lucifer killed him during the final battle. After Lucifer is trapped again, Castiel is suddenly brought back to life, presumably by God, and is fully empowered again. He decides to go back to Heaven after being cut off from it for the past year. He assumes Heaven will be in chaos with Michael gone and the Apocalypse prevented, and he feels it's his duty to help restore order.
What happens next for Castiel?
Feeling confident in his restored powers, Castiel brings Sam back from Hell. He expects Sam to immediately seek out Dean, but Sam doesn't contact his brother. His behavior is off, but Castiel isn't sure what might have gone wrong.
After that, Castiel finally goes back to Heaven. Since Castiel was brought back to life by God, some of his fellow angels think he's been chosen by God to lead them. Unfortunately Castiel is just as in the dark as the rest of them when it come to God's plans (or lack of), but he thinks God wants the angels to have their freedom. He tries to tell them that they now have free will, but they don't get it. They just want someone to tell them what God wants, or at least tell them what to do. Castiel spends a few weeks trying to get them to understand what freedom and free will means. He describes the experience as being similar to "teaching poetry to fish".
Since Gabriel was killed by Lucifer and Michael ended up locked in Hell, Raphael is now the ranking archangel in Heaven. Raphael summons Castiel and gives him an ultimatum. Raphael is going to free Lucifer and Michael from Hell and start the Apocalypse again. If Castiel doesn't publicly accept Raphael's authority before the rest of the Host of Heaven, Raphael will destroy him. Castiel has one day to decide.
Obviously Castiel doesn't want the Apocalypse to start up again and negate everything they fought against for the past two years, but he also knows he doesn't have the power to stand against Raphael. He goes to Dean to ask for help, but he can't bring himself to actually make contact. Dean is "retired" from hunting and Castiel decides he doesn't want to pull him back in after everything Dean had gone through.
While Castiel is invisibly observing Dean's new domestic life, Crowley shows up and offers Castiel a deal. He knows Castiel needs power to defeat Raphael. Crowley suggests he and Castiel work together to locate Purgatory, which is where the souls of all supernatural creatures go when they die. Souls are an immense power source to angels and demons. Since no one knows how to reach Purgatory, it's an untapped resource of souls. Of course Crowley expects to get half the "take", but with even half of that power source at his disposal, Castiel can defeat Raphael once and for all.
Castiel points out that finding Purgatory will take time, which he doesn't have. Crowley has a solution to that too. With Lucifer locked up again, Crowley is now in charge of Hell. He's willing to release fifty thousand souls from Hell to give Castiel a big enough power boost to hold off Raphael.
Unable to see any other alternative, Castiel reluctantly agrees to Crowley's plan. With the extra power from Crowley, Castiel is able to stand against Raphael. He declares his intention to stop Raphael's plans and starts gathering followers, other angels who are opposed to Raphael's plan to restart the Apocalypse. Basically Castiel has started a civil war in Heaven.
Crowley takes the lead on their search for Purgatory and starts working with hunters to trap supernatural creatures. He's looking for the "Alphas", the original creature that created all the others of its kind. (Alpha Vampire, Alpha Shapeshifter, etc.) He thinks the Alphas can lead them to Purgatory.
Meanwhile, Castiel continues to fight his civil war in Heaven. Sam has been trying to contact Castiel because he has no idea how he got out of Hell, but Castiel never answered him. After a year of no contact with either Winchester, Castiel hears Dean praying to him and he realizes that Sam has finally contacted Dean. They've also stumbled across an angelic weapon that is somehow loose on Earth, so this time Castiel goes to see them. He tells them about the war in Heaven and his part in it, but doesn't tell them about his partnership with Crowley. He also tells Sam "We have no idea who brought you back" (emphasis mine). Obviously this is at best stretching the truth - the angels as a group may not know, but Castiel certainly does. Castiel is deliberately lying to the Winchesters, possibly for the first time. He had concealed certain things from them in the past, most of the time on orders from his superiors in Heaven, but he'd never actually lied to them.
They eventually figure out that one of Castiel's angel friends, Balthasar, is on Earth with a storehouse of angelic weapons. When the Apocalypse was averted, Balthasar faked his own death, stole the weapons from Heaven, and went to hide out on Earth. Unlike the angels in Heaven, Balthasar is enjoying his free will and fully intends to stay a "free agent". However, Castiel eventually wins him over to his side of the civil war.
Sam continues to behave oddly. He's cold, ruthless, and willing to sacrifice anything or anyone to get what he wants, even Dean. Eventually Castiel figures out that Sam's soul remains trapped in Hell. Without his soul, Sam has no emotional feelings, for anything or anyone. Castiel tells the Winchesters he doesn't have the power to free Sam's soul. (This is most likely true, since if he did have the power Sam would have had his soul when he came back.)
Crowley approaches Sam and Dean and tells them that since he's in charge in Hell, he can give Sam his soul back. Of course there's a catch. Dean and Sam end up blackmailed into working for Crowley, hunting Alphas. At first they don't know why Crowley wants Alphas, but a captured Alpha Vampire tells them Crowley is searching for Purgatory. Crowley doesn't deny it, but he doesn't tell them the truth of why he wants to find it. And of course he's still concealing Castiel's involvement from them.
After a few months the Winchesters realize Crowley is just bluffing about Sam's soul, and they want to elminate him. They call on Castiel for help, and Castiel has to play both sides to protect his secret partner. He tricks the Winchesters into believing that he has killed Crowley.
(Dean eventually comes up with a desperate plan to make a deal with Death in exchange for Sam's soul, but Castiel isn't involved and only finds out after the fact.)
Meanwhile, Castiel and Crowley have had to come up with other plans to gather more souls to hold off Raphael until they can find Purgatory. At one point Castiel sends Balthasar back in time to prevent the Titanic from sinking, which in the present time gives him the additional souls of all the descendants of the people who should have died. Unfortunately the personification of Fate doesn't like them messing with history and, knowing Castiel's weak spot, threatens to devote herself to killing the Winchesters unless Castiel reverses it. Castiel does, because he still considers himself the Winchesters' protector.
Eventually the Winchesters find out that Crowley is still alive, and about his plan to open a pathway to Purgatory. They can't figure out how Castiel could have been tricked by Crowley, until they realize that Castiel could be working with him. Dean doesn't want to believe it, but eventually he's forced to agree that it's a possibility.
Castiel initially denies it, but when the truth comes out, he explains the situation and tells them he doesn't see any other way to prevent Raphael from restarting the Apocalypse. Dean and Sam don't agree. They're afraid opening a path to Purgatory to retrieve the souls will release all those supernatural creatures back on Earth. They insist Castiel can't go forward with his plan (although they don't offer any suggestions for a better way to stop Raphael). Dean and Castiel have a huge fight over it and break up end up on opposite sides.
Castiel prays to his Father, desperately begging for some kind of sign that he's doing the right thing. As usual, there's no answer.
Crowley wants to eliminate the Winchesters. Castiel won't let him, of course. He tells Crowley that if he harms the Winchesters, Castiel will consider their deal over and will tear down everything they've done during their partnership.
Instead, Crowley decides to kidnap Lisa and Ben, the family Dean lived with for a year, to get the Winchesters to back off. When Dean finds out, he's furious but he doesn't trust Castiel and refuses to call him for help. Sam goes behind his back and calls Cas. Castiel is not happy with Crowley's plan, but he doesn't agree to release the hostages either. Instead he tries to assure Dean that he will keep them safe and asks once again for Dean to trust him and his plan. Dean refuses to listen and tells him to get out.
Dean and Sam ask Balthasar for help. At first he refuses. They ask him if he knew Castiel was working with Crowley. Balthasar tries to pass it off like he knew, but it's obvious Castiel hadn't told him either. Balthasar leaves without agreeing to help and confronts Castiel, who reluctantly admits it's true. Balthasar is concerned that absorbing all those souls will be too much power for Castiel to handle and he'll explode, taking the planet with him. Castiel insists he can handle it, and wants to know if Balthasar is still on his side. Balthasar says he is, but immediately goes back to the Winchesters and volunteers to be their double agent.
He locates Lisa and Ben. Dean and Sam rescue them from the demons holding them, but Lisa is badly injured and ends up in a coma. Castiel shows up in her hospital room and Dean angrily informs him that Lisa isn't expected to live. Castiel tells him he already knows, that's why he's there. He then he heals Lisa. An emotional Dean thanks him, and asks him for one more favor. At his request, Castiel removes all memories of Dean from Lisa and Ben so they can go back to their normal lives.
Dean tells Castiel that even though he's grateful, it doesn't change anything as far as their disagreement about Castiel's plan for Purgatory. Castiel solemnly replies that he knows, and he leaves.
Personality:
At the end of Season 5, Castiel was full of hope and confidence after they managed to stop the Apocalypse. He was eager to exercise his freedom and free will. Raphael burst that bubble almost immediately.
As he fights his civil war in Heaven, Castiel gradually falls more and more into the morally gray areas. He gets much better at lying and deception. He doesn't tell the Winchesters about his partnership with Crowley because he knows they'll object. He doesn't tell his lieutenants in Heaven about the partnership either. Not even Balthasar knows. When one of the angels finds out and tries to stop him, Castiel kills her in order to keep his secret.
He also learns about the ends justifying the means. At one point the only way to get the information they need is for Castiel to "read" a boy's soul. It isn't physically damaging, but it is incredibly painful. Dean objects to what is basically torturing a child, but Castiel does it anyway, because it needs to be done.
In spite of all this, Castiel still wants to think of himself as being on the side of Good, even if he's working hand in hand with Evil. He does everything his power to keep the Winchesters safe, even when it harms his own plans. Everything he's doing is to prevent Raphael from destroying the world. To him that's the only thing that matters.
The other major change to Castiel is his increasing independence from Dean. Ever since Castiel took a vessel on Earth, Dean has been his mentor and his moral compass when it comes to being human and knowing the "right" thing to do. In Season 6 Castiel has to face the fact that he's going down a path that Dean doesn't approve of, and that's a new and scary prospect for him.
All season Dean made it clear to Cas that his problems were more important than Castiel's war in Heaven. He calls on Cas when he needs angelic help, and expects him to drop everything and show up. And for the most part, Castiel does. He might complain and snark a little, but he's there when Dean needs him.
When his partnership with Crowley is revealed, Castiel begs Dean to trust him. In the end though, Dean can't, and he rejects every attempt by Castiel to explain and justify his plan. Dean tells Cas he should call off his plan just because Dean thinks it's wrong and is asking him not to do it. He pretty much implies that Castiel isn't capable of making the right choices. Castiel obviously feels betrayed by his closest friend, but it doesn't weaken his resolve.
Ultimately Castiel has learned the downside of free will. The "right" answer isn't always obvious. You're free to choose, but you're also free to make mistakes.
Anything else worth mentioning:
Obviously Castiel got a level-up from the initial power boost from Crowley, but he didn't really gain any new powers. He just got stronger with the powers he already had.